Date of Award

6-10-2015

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Educational Leadership

First Advisor

Kendra Lowery

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to investigate the association between how principals use data to make school-level decisions and student outcomes. In June 2012, the state of Arkansas requested and received approval for an Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Flexibility Waiver from No Child Left Behind (NCLB). The United States Department of Education (USDOE) allowed each State Education Agency (SEA) the opportunity to request flexibility on behalf of the state, districts, and schools, to better focus on improving educational outcomes, closing achievement gaps, and increasing the quality of instruction which affects academic growth of students. Much of this responsibility falls on the building principal. The ESEA Flexibility Waiver granted to Arkansas required, as a part of a principal's evaluation, the inclusion of student achievement data. The ability to gather and assimilate information was found to be a critical component of successful leaders who wish to bring about change (Crainer & Dearlove, 2008). Shen et al. (2012) and Bernhardt (2013) report that principals using data to make decisions for their school is very important. A convenience sample was utilized, consisting of Arkansas building level principals who are members of the Arkansas Association of Education Administrators (AAEA). The AAEA is a state-wide professional organization for school administrators. AAEA has 480 principals who qualify to participate in the online survey of this study. The researcher limited qualification to participate with the following stipulations. Principals must be supervising a public school campus. Within the grade configuration of the principal's campus, there must be one grade level between grades three and seven. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze, describe, and report findings for Research Questions One, Two, and Three. Thematic analysis was used to evaluate Research Questions Four, Five, and Six.

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